chordo-, chord-, cordo-, cord- +

(Greek: khorde, "gut string" [of a lyre]; used in an extended sense to mean "sinew, flexible rod-shaped organ, string, cord"; Latin: chorda, "related notes in music, string of a musical instrument, cat-gut" via Old French, corde, "rope, string, twist, cord")

anemochord (s) (noun), anemochords (pl)
A musical instrument having strings vibrated by air currents; aeolian harp: In her music class, Peggy learned about the anemochord in which the strings were tuned in unison and were heard when breezes in the air moved over them.
cephalochordata
Several species of lancelets, or amphioxi, small, fishlike, filter-feeding animals found in shallow water.

A lancelet has a long body, pointed at both ends, with a large notochord that extends almost from tip to tip and is present throughout its life.

At one end is a mouth surrounded by prominent bristles and leading into a pharynx where there are gill slits, an endostyle similar to that of a sea squirt, and an atrium surrounding the pharynx.

chordata
1. A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in the lowest chordates; a primitive spine which are also found in the embryos of vertebrates from which the spine develops.
2. A phylum of the animal kingdom consisting of all of the animals that have a notochord (the primitive axis of the body) during some stage of their development.

It includes the subphyla cephalochordata, urochordata, and vertebrata (vertebrates).

3. A phylum of animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod, as the primary internal skeletal support at some stage of their development.

Most chordates are vertebrates (animals with backbones), but the phylum also includes some small marine invertebrate animals.

The three features unique to chordates and found in all of them at least during early development are:

  • The notochord, composed of gelatinous tissue and bound by a tough membrane.
  • A tubular nerve cord (or spinal cord), located above the notochord.
  • Gill slits leading into the pharynx, or anterior part of the digestive tract (the throat, in higher vertebrates).
4. Etymology: Modern Latin, from Latin chorda, "cord"; from Old French corde, "rope, string, twist, cord"; from Latin chorda, "string of a musical instrument, cat-gut", from Greek, khorde, "string, catgut, chord, cord" + ending from Vertebrata which came from vertebra, which refers to "any of the bones or segments of the spinal column from Latin, "joint of the spine, from vertere, "to turn".
chordectomy
The excision (cutting out) of all or part of a cord; such as, a vocal cord or the spinal cord.
chorditis
1. Inflammation of the vocal or spermatic cords or of the vocal folds.
2. A response of body tissues to injury or irritation which is characterized by pain, swelling, redness, and heat.
chronic subglottic laryngitis, chorditis vocalis inferior
Prolonged inflammation of the mucous membrane extending below from the vocal folds for up to several centimeters.
clavichord (s) (noun), clavichords (pl)
1. An early stringed instrument like a piano but with more delicate sounds.
2. An early keyboard instrument with a soft sound produced by small brass wedges striking horizontal strings.
decachord
1. An ancient Greek musical instrument of ten strings, resembling the harp.
2. Something consisting of ten parts; for example, a bundle consisting of ten things bound together.
heptachord (s) (noun), heptachords (pl)
1. A system of seven sounds: "Trudy sang a heptachord composition of seven chords or tones."
3. An ancient Greek stringed instrument: "In old Grecian times, a heptachord or a lyre with seven chords was used to present music."
monochord
1. An acoustic instrument consisting of a sounding box with one string and a movable bridge, used to study musical tones.
2. An ancient acoustic device consisting of a single string stretched over an oblong sounding box, used to determine mathematical intervals between musical tones.
3. An instrument for experimenting with the mathematical relations of musical sounds.

It consists of a single string stretched between two bridges, one or both of which are movable, and which stand on a graduated rule for the purpose of readily changing and measuring the length of the part of the string between them.

4. Etymology: Old French, from Late Latin, from Greek monokhordon, from mono-, "one" + khord, "string".
neurochord, neurochordal
A cordlike organ composed of elastic fibers situated above the ventral nervous cord of annelids; such as, the earthworm.
notochord, chorda dorsalis
1. A cartilaginous rod that runs along the back (dorsal) of all chordates () at some point in their life cycle.
2. A rod consisting of cartilage running underneath, and supporting, the nerve cord.
3. In embryology, a rod-shaped body of cells that is the center of development of the axis of the skeleton.
4. A flexible rodlike structure that forms the main support of the body in all chordates (animals having a notochord, or dorsal stiffening rod) during some stage of their development.

In vertebrates, the notochord develops into a true backbone in the embryonic phase while primitive chordates; such as, lancelets and tunicates, keep a notochord throughout their existence.

octachord, octochord
1. An eight-stringed musical instrument or any musical instrument with eight strings.
2. A series of eight notes; especially, a musical scale.
pentachord
1. An ancient instrument of music with five strings.
2. An order or system of five sounds.
phonochorda (s), phonochordae (pl)
The vocal fold or folds.